Time to get Phreaky
Family Portrait: Lu Antone PAGE 21
Local gay and lesbian lawyers named top attorneys by national LGBT bar assoc.
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July 27-Aug. 2, 2012
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Vol. 36 No. 30
‘Black Madam’ charged with murder By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The transgender woman accused of giving illegal silicone injections was this week charged with murder in connection with the death of a British tourist last year. P a d g e Vi c t o r i a Windslowe, who calls herself the “Black Madam,” was charged with third-degree murder Monday night. She was arraigned Tuesday and will face a preliminary hearing Aug. 8. Windslowe, 42, is PADGE accused of performing an VICTORIA illegal buttocks-enhanceWINDSLOWE ment procedure that led to Claudia Aderotimi’s death in February 2011. In addition to the murder charge, she faces additional counts of conPAGE 6
Lynn sentenced to prison
Energy, empowerment at AIDS conference By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The global fight against HIV/AIDS took root in Washington, D.C., this week. Tens of thousands of people impacted by the disease, including scores of activists from Philadelphia, researchers, staff from AIDS organizations and policymakers, have spent the last few days learning, strategizing and raising their voices for a united front against the epidemic at the International AIDS Conference. “It is so enormous that I can’t even begin to describe it in words,” said Elicia Gonzales, executive director of Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative, who arrived in D.C. last Friday. “It is the most profound and transformative experience I’ve ever been involved with,” she said. “The most amazing, beautiful and empowering thing is just the collective energy that’s here. It’s infectious, overwhelming and inspiring.” That energy was most evident in Tuesday’s “We Can End AIDS” march. The five branches of the mobilization — each spearheading a different human-rights cause — organized in Lafayette Park and then headed toward the White House. More than 500 Philadelphia activists, organized by ACT UP and PAGE 9
ACTING TO END AIDS: About 5,000 people took to the streets of Washington, D.C., Tuesday to call for an end to the AIDS epidemic. “We Can End AIDS” was staged during the International AIDS Conference, and brought together activists from throughout the globe. Five separate marches, one of which was spearheaded by ACT UP Philadelphia, each called for a different action to alleviate the impact of the disease — such as a tax on Wall Street to generate funding and the ceasing of the criminalization of people with HIV/AIDS, sex workers and drug users. All of the activists converged at the White House, where 13 people — including two local ACT UP activists — were arrested at a sit-in at the building’s gates. The conference concludes July 27. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Voter ID pressure intensifies
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
The nation’s first Catholic official to be held liable for covering up sexual abuse within the church will serve time in prison. A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday sentenced Monsignor William Lynn to three to six years in prison for his role in concealing allegations of abuse against an Archdiocesan priest. After a landmark, and lengthy, trial this past spring, a jury last month convicted Lynn of one count of endangering the welfare of a child. He was acquitted of a second child-endangerment charge and one count of conspiracy. He could have faced up to seven years in prison. Lynn has been in prison since the June 22 conviction. Defense attorneys said Tuesday they would appeal the sentence. PAGE 8
With the fall general election inching closer, activists are ramping up efforts to oppose Pennsylvania’s new voter-identification law. Passed in the spring, the law requires all voters to possess an approved form of photo identification, a Republican-led initiative that critics argue was created to cut the number of eligible Democratic voters. The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday said it would investigate the law and how it was passed. State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-17th Dist.) last week announced he is introducing a bill that would repeal the law, in light of new statistics about its potential impact. When the voter-ID measure was being debated, its sponsors contended that only 1 percent of the state’s voters lacked proper
VOTER ID: Hundreds of activists gathered at Independence Mall July 19 for a rally against the state’s new voter-identification law. Organized by the American Association of Retired Persons, the event mobilized seniors, minorities, LGBTs and others who could be impacted by the measure. A trial in which the law is being challenged started this week, and federal officials also announced that they are investigating the legality of the law. Photo: Scott A. Drake
identification, a complication that was overshadowed by what supporters said was widespread voter-fraud. However, earlier this month the Department of State released an analysis that found up to 9 percent of state voters — about 758,000 people — may lack an acceptable photo ID. In Philadelphia, that figure stands closer to 18 percent. The numbers reflect registered voters whose names are not in the state’s Department of Transportation database. Voter-ID supporters argue that many of those people may have died, moved or be listed under another name. In a statement released to his colleagues however, Leach noted the new statistics would have been important in shaping debate this past spring. “Since we cast that vote, we have received more information that would have been relevant to our deliberations and which show the disenfranchisePAGE 7